Panama City Beach sets stage for Parrot Head Rendezvous

View full sizeParrot Heads go fins to the right at the 2011 Panama City Beach Parrot Head Rendezvous. (Photo courtesy Daphne Lewis, Panama City Parrot Head Club)

View full sizeHundreds of fans show up at the 2011 Panama City Beach Parrot Head Rendezvous. (Photo courtesy Daphne Lewis, Panama City Parrot Head Club)

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida -- Look out, Panama City Beach. The Parrot Heads are coming. More than 500 members of singer Jimmy Buffett's fan club have already registered for this year's Parrot Head Rendezvous, held April 20-22 in Panama City Beach.

The three-day fin festival at the Barefoot Beach Club will feature live music from 10 popular trop rock bands, door prizes and a silent auction with several big-ticket items, including an acoustic guitar signed by Buffett. Proceeds from the event are going to the Children's Home Society of Florida.

The Parrot Head Rendezvous has raised more than $15,000 for Children's Home Society in each of the past two years, and Panama City Parrot Head Club president Lil Lewis said she hopes to make it $20,000 this year.

"We like to describe ourselves as angels in tropical shirts," Lewis said. "The Parrot Head Clubs nationwide do an incredible amount of fundraising."

In fact, the group's motto nationwide is "Party with a Purpose," and the Parrot Heads plan to live that out to the fullest with the 7th annual rendezvous.

The three-day early registration on the group's web site is sold out after attracting faithful Parrot Heads from New York to San Diego. Single-day passes will be sold at the event for $20 per day.